San Diego  The woman fatally shot in a parking lot near the Westfield Mission Valley mall on Tuesday was with her significant other’s brother, people who know the victims said Wednesday.

Ilona Flint, 22, died Tuesday morning after a gunman shot her in the head and upper body around 1:15 a.m. Salvatore Belvedere, 22, was shot multiple times in his upper torso and is in very critical condition, San Diego police said.

Flint’s significant other, Gianni Belvedere, is now missing, according to Facebook posts from friends and family.

Police officially identified the two shooting victims on Wednesday, but did not respond to requests regarding Gianni.

The three have known each since at least their teenage years, when they were students at the Walden School of Liberal Arts, a charter K-12 school in Provo, Utah.

Eric Beecroft, a photo journalism teacher at the school, said Flint and Gianni dated all the way through high school. Beecroft said he got to know them both well, describing them both as amazing and vibrant.

“Ilona Flint was full of life, that is for sure,” Beecroft said.

Beecroft said Salvatore left school early to work at his family's Italian Restaurant, a popular spot called Ottavio’s.

Flint moved to San Diego to be with Gianni after his family sold the restaurant and moved west, said Sharon Beecroft, the business manager at the Walden School. She said Flint hadn’t graduated college to her knowledge, and worked mostly in retail, while Gianni wanted to be a doctor.

Flint, born in Russia, lost her father when she was 12, according to Eric Beecroft. Her mother remarried, and Flint has younger siblings, Sharon Beecroft said. She described Flint as fashionable, vibrant, outgoing and smart.

Trevor Christensen, a photo journalist in St. George, Utah, said he knew Flint and Gianni after they transferred from Walden to Provo High School.

“They’ve been kind of inseparable,” he said.

The shooting occurred in the southeast parking lot close to the Macy’s store, just feet away from the Pinery Christmas Tree lot.

The store was open at the time of the shooting, with Macy’s having extended hours until 2 a.m. for last-minute Christmas shoppers, police said.

The suspect in the shooting is believed to be a man, possibly in his 20s, of an unknown race and 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 11 inches tall. He was wearing tan pants and an unknown color shirt.

He may have been driving a 2008 to 2011 dark gray Honda sedan, Hastings said.

Police are gathering surveillance video and questioning witnesses.

Homicide Lt. Michael Hastings said he could not speculate on a motive for the attack. He said detectives were conducting a methodical investigation into what he called a “terrible tragedy right before the holidays.”

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call homicide detectives at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477, where tipsters may remain anonymous.